Stop pestering calls for cha-cha,
Loren tells political leaders

Senator Loren Legarda yesterday called on political leaders to stop connecting solutions to the Mindanao emergency with constitutional change, saying it only makes people suspicious of the way the Mindanao situation is being handled by the government.

"Owing to seemingly lack of effort on the part of political leaders, people might suspect that politicians are fomenting war instead of restoring peace," Legarda said.

"Because no clear effort is being done to reduce tensions, politicians are now being perceived to be the ones provoking more conflicts," she added.

Charter change had been torpedoed by the Supreme Court two years ago, but it was revived last month with no less than President Arroyo announcing it.

The revival, the president said, would pave the way for federalism - a move viewed by many as a disguise of Malacanang's ulterior motive.

The resulting disorder (in Mindanao), according to Legarda, would be used as justification for constitutional change which she said "will not solve the problems of Mindanao but will only extend the stay of politicians in power."

"What would happen in the event that we allow this constitutional change is that politicians would be tempted to push for inclusion of the need for then incumbent officials to serve as caretaker, 'and that we need to extend the term, something like that'," Legarda commented.

Lawmakers close to the administration have floated the possibility of prolonging the term of the president but Malacanang denied it was the real purpose.

"We just could not imagine what the other countries are thinking what kind of leadership do we have here because we push for charter change when what we need to address is the worsening crisis in Mindanao, not to mention the dehumanizing poverty and inflation," she said.

"It's not farther than we think that our style in leadership and as a people would be put in serious question in the future, simply because of the way we handle our problems."